Shedding Old Skin for the New Year

The sun was shining and White Center was bustling on April 26. The air was fragrant with lemongrass and fried foods, and the street was crowded with families — babies to elders — many decked out in colorful traditional silk clothes. They are the living embodiments of resilience. 

Khmer New Year lands in mid-April each year, and hundreds of people from the local Cambodian community celebrate with the annual White Center Khmer New Year Street Festival. This year's holiday coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Cambodian genocide, during which the Khmer Rouge killed between 1 and 3 million Cambodian people between 1975 and 1979. 

The Cambodian New Year blends Buddhist practices with the country's abundant harvest season and​ a time when freshwater fish flow into Cambodian rivers. Families gather, honor their ancestors, and pray for blessings from the gods. Households create an altar decorated with fresh fruit and flowers, soft drinks, alcohol, perfume, and a cup with rice grains to hold the lit incense.

The street festival in White Center was a traditional Khmer New Year festivity, where monks from local Cambodian Buddhist temples performed the blessing ceremony. They sprinkled guests with holy water infused with flowers and tied a red bracelet around attendees' wrists for good luck. 

Christine Men, who volunteered at the street festival, recounted some of her earliest childhood memories of Khmer New Year. "I can remember being 5 and going to watt [(Buddhist temple) with my grandma] and pretending I knew what the prayer was, copying every [sound people were] making." She continued, "It took me a while to realize that [the chanting was in] Sanskrit and not Khmer."

Men's aunt and uncle, Savoun and Samnang Yin, own Samway, the Cambodian grocery store in White Center, which is a staple for the community. The owners, their family, and their friends donate their time each year to cook all of the food for the festival. They begin preparing for the dishes at least one month before the event.

Every year, people wind through the crowd munching on New Year dishes, like a platter of grilled beef skewers and fried rice with a side of papaya salad.

Attendees also gathered to watch classical robam dancers perform for a good harvest and prosperity. The Cambodian Classical and Folk Dance Northwest group, dressed as apsaras, who are celestial beings depicted in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. They're known for gracing the gods and people with their divine beauty and talent. The dancers were adorned with gold headpieces and accessories and wore intricate silk garments in vibrant hues that sparkled in the sunlight as they performed the dance "Robam Choun Por" (blessing dance). 

The Cambodian Cultural Association of Washington (CCAW) has been organizing the White Center Khmer New Year Street Festival since 2003. Sophia Som has volunteered for the event since 2015. She says she enjoys working with many types of people in the community and finding the delicate balance of forging connections between youth and elders. Khmer New Year is a time for people to gather with extended family.

"I don't have a big family like [many] other Cambodian families," Som said. "I wanted to create that for myself through my chosen family and by being in community."